Poem Analysis for Christina Rossetti’s No, Thank you, John
Themes:
Rejection
Earthly relationships
Love
Summary:
The poem encapsulates a one sided conversation, where we learn the female
speaker has rejected the love of ‘John’, instead preferring to be friends. The poem
although does not seem a rejection of earthly love on religious grounds, yet on
personal ground, in that “I never said I loved you, John”. The male subject is not
present, yet we hear his words echoed through the female speaker; “I have no
heart?”.
Structure:
8 quatrains of equal rhyme- alternate end rhyme- something clearly disrupting the
unity of the couple. One sided conversation mimics the speaker’s control and the
lengthy poem yet short stanzas portray the short lived relationship.
More A* analysis on page 2!
Imagery:
Rossetti’s speaker begins her dramatic monologue with a refute “I never said I loved
you, John”, clearly asserting the female speaker as in control through the use of the
pronoun “I”. Through the use of separating “I” and “John”, this creates distances the
two characters, the speaker clearly with more assertion as John is silent. As John is
“teasing”, a word often reserved for women, this creates John as inferior, yet also
shows his behaviour is infuriating. Furthermore, the harsh alliteration of “wax
weariness” emphasises the speaker’s irritation, whilst the rhyme of “day and day”
Themes:
Rejection
Earthly relationships
Love
Summary:
The poem encapsulates a one sided conversation, where we learn the female
speaker has rejected the love of ‘John’, instead preferring to be friends. The poem
although does not seem a rejection of earthly love on religious grounds, yet on
personal ground, in that “I never said I loved you, John”. The male subject is not
present, yet we hear his words echoed through the female speaker; “I have no
heart?”.
Structure:
8 quatrains of equal rhyme- alternate end rhyme- something clearly disrupting the
unity of the couple. One sided conversation mimics the speaker’s control and the
lengthy poem yet short stanzas portray the short lived relationship.
More A* analysis on page 2!
Imagery:
Rossetti’s speaker begins her dramatic monologue with a refute “I never said I loved
you, John”, clearly asserting the female speaker as in control through the use of the
pronoun “I”. Through the use of separating “I” and “John”, this creates distances the
two characters, the speaker clearly with more assertion as John is silent. As John is
“teasing”, a word often reserved for women, this creates John as inferior, yet also
shows his behaviour is infuriating. Furthermore, the harsh alliteration of “wax
weariness” emphasises the speaker’s irritation, whilst the rhyme of “day and day”
